Friday, March 26, 2010

Me neither. Until three days ago when doing intensive online "researching."

Well, ladies and gentleman, according to the steampunkopedia (no, I'm not making this up), Steampunk is defined as:

"Everything Jules Verne could have written. Everything H.G. Wells should have written. Everything A. Conan Doyle thought of but never published because it was too fantastic. "

~Frank Chadwick, 1988

Steampunk is an entirely modern aesthetic born of disenchantment with the world-that-is and a desire to create an ephemeral world-that-never-was. It combines the Victorian, the modern, and the fantastic.

~Sister Shuriken of Sweet Reason

Am I the last person to hear about this? There's a really informative article about it from Time, written by Lev Grossman (writer of The Magicians...yes Micah, that's the book I gave you, the one getting dusty on your bookshelf) that really clarifies it for those of us still trapped in the modern age.

This keyboard for a laptop is AMAZING. You can find more transformations on this webpage. I suggest you check it out.

Now grab your pipe, violin and partner-in-crime and join me for Heaven's sakes!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The evening last I watched the sprawling drama, Reds, about Jack Reed and Louise Bryant, writers during the time of the Great War. They took initiative to go the action in Russia during the Bolshevik uprising and became notables for the Communist Party. Go see it!

Now see the above photo of Jack Nicholson playing Eugene O'Neill? Look past the mustache, to the beautiful room he sits in.

Well, this short section of the movie spent at a gorgeous beach house with creative types in Cape Cod, got me thinking. The house they used was perfect: Light, airy, filled with books, linens and whitewashed walls. So often seaside homes are left feeling light, airy and...stagnant.

(Trust me, I grew up five minutes from the beach. Bouys in the front yard as decor?? Pourquoi?)

Anywho, my quest for images of homes by the sea that look bookish, elegant and lived in (YEARround) begins! Here is what I've gathered as of yet:

Now go netflix Reds, pause on the scenes of the cottage, observe and leave your report on my desk first thing tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Monday, March 15, 2010

"When I woke it was to a vision of paradise: through the window was the Mediterranean, even bluer than in the postcards. And there were the square sun-baked houses, the red earth, the grey-green vegetation, the palm trees. My throat was as dry as ashes, I was coated with a mixture of soot and sweat and aching all over; but the sight of that tideless ocean, mother of gods and men, nurse of poetry, changeless grandiose fact of the ancient world, made me dizzy with joy."

-John Glassco

Reading this last night with the wind and rain spitting at my window was such a nice reminder of the trip I took with my sister when I was 16 to the Cote d'Azur. One village, Eze, perched atop a high mountain like "a phoenix on a bone," overlooking what seems to be the entire province and Monaco, was pure Mediterranean magic. I surely hope these photos capture the panoramic views combined with the quaintness of it all. This had Monte Carlos beat with aces.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Thursday, March 11, 2010

We've certainly had our ups and downs, but I'd like to say that we can remain apart no longer. Your latest show for Louis Vuitton has left me gasping for air and clutching my bossom. This is not to be born. The beauty you've shown will forgive all previous sins. It's a tender reminder of when I first found fashion, alone at that lunch table, and you were my greatest icon.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I try not to be a judge-a-book-by-it's-cover sort of fellow but the other day at the library THIS was on the display shelf:

I had to do everything in my power not to triple toe lux over the circulation desk to grab it! It's SO good. 1920's Paris. Literary crowd. Stein, Toklas, Hemmingway, Man Ray, McAlmon and the Surrealists. Beautiful writing to boot.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Favored guests from Towne are descending to the country estate this weekend! Must brief servants, clear grounds, stock bubbles, bathe dachshund and other perfections. I wish life could always be like this weekend and look like the above picture of the BYT's of yore.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

A year ago I must have put all of Bette Davis' movies on my netflix queue, because for the last few weeks it seems she's in EVERY movie I get. Does anyone else have an exorbitant amount of films on their queue as well? It's taxing.

Want to hang out tonight?

Nope, I have to work on my queue.

Well, my favorite so far is Deception. A film noir filled with shadows, infidelity, classical musicians, Mid-century lofts and of course, Deception.

I was also impressed that she actually played the piano in a few scenes, instead of the chest shot with the hands waving helter skelter thats the norm. Pet Peeve.